complete verse (Joshua 9:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 9:21:

  • Kupsabiny: “You leave them in peace, but those people will be splitting firewood for us and bring us water.’ That is what the leaders said.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Again the leaders said, "They must be allowed to live." So, in accordance with this promise of the leaders, they became wood cutters and water carriers for the whole assembly.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “[You (plur.)] let them live. But let- us (incl.) -make them ones-who-gather-wood and ones-who-draw-water for the whole community.’ And this is what happened to the ones (who) come-from-Gibeon according-to what the leaders/[lit. heads] said concerning them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So we must allow them to live. But they will cut wood for us, and they will carry water for us.’ So the Israeli leaders did what they had promised.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 9:21

They will have to cut wood and carry water for us puts into direct discourse what in Hebrew is part of the narrative (see Revised Standard Version, and see comments by Soggin). New English Bible is like Good News Translation. Similarly, the text may be translated, “They must take over the work of cutting wood and carrying water for all Israel.” In this proposed restructuring Let them live is deleted from verse 21, since it is unnecessary on the basis of its inclusion in verse 20.

“Hewers of wood and drawers of water” (the quaint King James Version language is still preserved in Revised Standard Version) may have been a picturesque way of describing the low social class of those who performed menial tasks (see Deut 29.11). But verses 23, 27 seem to take the expression quite literally, implying that these two tasks were performed particularly in connection with the Temple services.This terminology appears in the Canaanite Keret text of the 14th century B.C. as designation of the village pursuits of women. Smith believes it implies “that the Gibeonites are to disband their army and depend on Israel for their defense.” In any case, they are reduced to a servile status.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 9:21

9:21a

They continued: Verse 21 continues the answer that the Israelite leaders gave to those who wanted to attack the Gibeonites. The clause They continued may not be necessary in some languages. It may not be natural to repeat a quote margin in the middle of continuous speech. For example, the New Living Translation (2004) deletes the quote margin:

Let them live. (New Living Translation (2004))

The English Standard Version follows the Hebrew with a long form of the quote margin:

And the leaders said to them, “Let them live” (English Standard Version)

Let them live: The clause Let them live indicates that the Israelites will not kill the Gibeonites.

The words Let them live are a repetition of what the leaders said in 20a. In some languages it may be clearer to use the word “repeated” in the quote margin. For example:

They repeated, “Let them live”

9:21b

but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation: There are two ways to interpret the use of this phrase:

(1) These words are not part of the quotation that started in 21a. Instead, this phrase shows the result of the Israelites’ decision. For example:

21a “Let them live.” 21b So they became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community. (NET Bible)

(NET Bible, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, New Living Translation (2004), New American Standard Bible)

(2) These words are part of the quotation that started in 21a. For example:

21a “Let them live, 21b but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community.” (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, Good News Translation, King James Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). This is followed by several English versions and several commentaries.

woodcutters: The word woodcutters indicates that the Gibeonites cut firewood for the Israelites.

water carriers: The phrase water carriers indicates that the Gibeonites drew water from the wells and carried it for the Israelites.

the whole congregation: The phrase the whole congregation indicates that the Gibeonites performed these tasks for the whole Israelite community, including the leaders and their families.

9:21c

So the leaders kept their promise: The clause So the leaders kept their promise emphasizes the decision of the leaders about the Gibeonites. It was the leaders who made the decisions.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the leaders had decided concerning them (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed (New Living Translation (2004))

Use a way that is natural in your language to emphasize this decision of the leaders.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.